CM launches ‘Green Mahanadi Mission’

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Tuesday inaugurated a Green Mahanadi Mission, a mega plantation drive along the river basin.

Under the programme, more than 5 crore saplings would be planted over 41,000 hectares of land on both sides of major rivers of the State and 5,000 km of roadside within five years at an expenditure of around Rs 5,000 crore.

The objective of the mission is to recharge and revitalise the groundwater reserve along the Mahanadi banks.

Plantation within a one-km radius of the riverbanks on both sides would primarily include fruit-bearing trees like mango, jackfruit, jamun, etc., which would have multiple benefits such as groundwater harvesting, preventing soil erosion along the banks and ensuring income and livelihood opportunities for the local communities.

Similar initiatives would be undertaken on the banks of the Ib and Tel rivers and subsequently extended to all other major rivers in the State.